


Till Pattern do us part

by UnicornofAmber



Series: Random/Vialle [6]
Category: Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-19 05:09:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29994384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornofAmber/pseuds/UnicornofAmber
Summary: It was tonight.Vialle wasn’t sure exactly what would happen, but it would happen tonight. And still, no word came from Random.
Relationships: Random/Vialle (Chronicles of Amber)
Series: Random/Vialle [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1561285
Kudos: 1





	Till Pattern do us part

Usually, he riffled through the pages of a book before bedtime. Now, it was his heart that riffled like mad whenever they went under the covers.

 _It was tonight_.

Vialle wasn’t sure exactly _what_ would happen, but it would be tonight. And still, no word came from Random about his plans.

“Tired?” Without waiting for a reply, Random sniffed out the candle. The bed creaked when the prince shifted his weight. After about an hour or so, when he deemed Vialle well asleep, Random silently pulled his feet out of bed and proceeded to put on his clothing in the dark. He no longer needed the light - his eyes had become well adjusted to the dark in the past couple of months, by courtesy of having a blind wife.

“When were you planning on telling me?” Vialle remained as she was – with her eyes to the ceiling, her arms crossed.

“When you’d demand me to.”

Vialle could practically _feel_ his smile fall upon her, but refused to give him her own. “Do you leave because of me?”

A sigh. A hand rustling on fabric. “Yes,” Random answered in the cold air, “and no.” Abruptly the prince stood up, causing the bed to squeak for a couple of seconds and proceeded to tie his shoe lashes. The bed squeaked again. Random looked up, to see his wife open the covers , pull her feet out and began to dress herself. “You do realize, I might not return at all to Rebma?” The prince continued to tie his second shoe and added after a heartbeat, “To _you_?” Finished, Random stood up, only to find Vialle’s hand grasp and travel across his arm, finally settling upon his shoulder and began to tap in morse code.

Random could not remember how this came in their conversations – they’d talked about him drumming; how Vialle would use her fingers in order to recognize the texture beneath her skin – Anyhow, he taught her and as soon as Vialle could more or less use and understand it, they silently communicated with one another at the long, boring state dinners which they were invited or rather were forced to attend to.

Too many times, Random tapped a joke or made fun of the visiting dignitaries or Moire. To the bystanders, it seemed as if Vialle burst into laughter for no reason and their confusion only caused her laugh even longer. 

_You do realize you might not make it out of here at all?_

Vialle’s tapping did not go as quick as Random’s translation. There were often long taps as Vialle doubted on certain letters and even made a couple of mistakes, but Random could get the main gest.

Random sniffed his nose, before tapping his reply. His fingers could move like a blur if he wanted to, but replied at a slower pace for her to understand. _You can’t stop me._

One would think a lot of vocal communication would be lost, but Vialle found herself more attuned to Random’s little sounds and gestures. The way he breathed, the way he placed his fingers now told the blind woman as much as his voice would and Vialle chuckled while her fingers returned an answer. He was annoyed, alright. _It is not… that. have you thought everything through?_

_I’ll sneak past the guards._

_H.O.W_?

Vialle’s nails dug deeper than actually necessary in his skin and Random’s heart clenched. Something had been gnawing at him ever since the idea had formed in his head. He’d thought Corwin’s imprisonment, the upcoming thrill and his own possible death were the cause of that. He had never thought it to be HER.

She’d become a little bolder, a little more rebellious as his wife due to his ever-present bad influence and began to challenge him to look beyond his usual improvisation and - This could not be. He could not take her with him and say he could... for what purpose? To die by Eric’s hand? To be his prisoner, much how she’d been a prisoner in Rebma? He would only gift her pain and humiliation.

Random jolted out of his thoughts when Vialle gently poked him. “Huh?” His own voice sounded unbearable after talking in morse for so long and the prince involuntarily shuddered, searching for Vialle’s waist and rocking them both.

_How will you sneak past the guards without rousing suspicion?_

_I’ll improvise._

_And how will you get in the Pattern chamber? Only the queen and Llewella have the key._

_I-_ Random’s fingers ceased their tapping for a moment _. I don’t know._

Vialle smiled, untangled herself from Random’s arms, reached for the night table and pulled a key out of the drawer.

“How did you-?” Random breathed out,

“No further time to explain,” Vialle whispered as she pushed the key in Random’s hands, “The night is not getting any younger for us.” The blind woman moved forward with her hand gripping Random’s shirt.

The fact that his wife had used the plural form instead of a singular, made Random pause in the midst of their chamber and he reached for his wife’s shoulder to turn her around. _Don’t follow me._ When Vialle did not reply, Random squeezed her arms. “Vialle, swear you will not follow me.” For the first time, the prince was not whispering and the words burned her ears.

“… I swear.”

Random smiled, squeezed her a final time and proceeded to walk to the doorway, when he heard Vialle’s step mirror his. “I told you to stay here.”

“No, you told me not to follow you. I will merely go to the library. Moire’s guards will not question your motives when you’re with me.” Vialle was trembling now, knowing full well the implications. Once she steps through that door, she was openly committing treason by putting her husband before Rebma. But her husband, much like his son, was no ordinary man. She’d seen what Moire’s suffocating blanket had wrought upon Martin and she did not wish the same for Random. They were not meant for this place, or rather, this place was not meant for them.

It was not odd for the guards that they were still up at this late hour – Vialle was known to sculpt at these times and Random accompanied her often, so it was a believable excuse. They put on a light and stayed a couple of minutes with Vialle actually sculpting and Random glaring above the pages of his book to keep up appearances to the patrolling guard and – again - to stall their final goodbye.

The moment the guard patrolled to another area, Random tapped with his feet, giving Vialle her cue. The blind woman laid down her tools and sought her way to her husband, feeling his arms, sensing his parfume for the last time. _This was it, then._ For a moment, Vialle thought to be selfish. She now had a partner. And while it was not love, there was a connection between them, that could allow for such thing to happen. Why should they not try, here and now? Forget Amber, forget everything else and- _She’d do the same to him like Moire did to Martin. Let him go._ “Goodbye.”

He hated goodbyes. He hated the words and all answers seemed too dull, too ordinary for her. Not knowing what to say, Random leaned in to give her a kiss for the first time since their wedding vows.

Before Vialle could register his lips on her cheek, Random’s arms vanished from her waist and his footsteps thundered off, leaving the blind woman to her own thoughts. Vialle’s hand travelled to the spot where Random had kissed her and rubbed it. There had been… _some_ warmth that their first kiss severely lacked.

 _And it is done, now. Don’t dwell on what could have been._ Vialle took a moment to compose herself and as she clenched her fists, the blind woman suddenly felt her wedding ring rubbing against her skin. For a moment, Vialle turned the little band of metal around her finger, thinking to discard it. _After all, he was no longer her husband. Random had-_

Vialle froze.

_Random had not taken off his ring._

He'd made it. Random shut the door of the Pattern chamber behind him and turned to face the Pattern, clenching and unclenching his fists from nervosity for his pattern walk. As he did, Random felt the cold metal of his wedding ring rubbing his skin, Random looked at it and loosened it from his finger. The entire time, he'd been thinking to drop the ring in this very chamber, as the the ultimate 'screw you!' to Moire. _He was leaving Rebma. His deal with Moire was no longer binding so technically, this also meant that Vialle was his wife no longer._

The ring was slipping.

_Vialle had not taken off her ring._

Quickly, Random turned his hand into a fist and the ring became locked between his pink and middle finger, before shoving it back to its original place. A thousand chains with rattling weights, that Random didn't know he was carrying along in his very ring, vanished. He felt like the wind and the prince lunged to the Pattern, which had never been so effortless to walk.

**Author's Note:**

> The way its described in the books, it seems Random acted impulsively to try and kill Eric. Which makes sense for his character, but if he acted without plan, how did he get past all the guards, not to mention inside the closed off Pattern chamber? More importantly how did Vialle react when Random just... leaves her?
> 
> Continuing on chapter 8 from "Still waters run deep", Vialle is lured by Random's expectation of competence... and it now comes full circle, with Vialle expecting it from Random. Unlike Morganthe, she recognizes he's not meant for a simple "house-tree-child" life and she now had to choose - allowing Random to pursue his wants and dreams or keeping him tethered to her. 
> 
> Vialle did not force the easy, selfish choice on him, she did not scoff at his plan, but instead tempered Random's impulsive behavior. Its a big gesture of faith that none of his siblings have ever given him, and he returns this by keeping his wedding ring. Random no longer sees his marriage to Vialle as a punishement. What he didn't account for, was Vialle to beg for his life let alone join him in prison when the news reaches her. He thought she'd move on quickly. 
> 
> Vialle did not know Random considered to go directly to Eric. She thought he would go off in Shadow to raise an army or go search for Martin - but again, Random being Random, he just doesn't think things quite through.


End file.
